Monday March 1, 8.3mi/13.3km
Silver Lake Lean-to (113.2/2060ft) to Abner Brook Campsite (121.5/1400ft) (NY)
Today was a late start, as the precipitation was forecast to end around 9am. Sure enough, it lightly rained and snowed until 8:30am, and we hung out in the leanto and ate a 2nd breakfast.
We put on the packs and skis, and moved out at 8:45, and thankfully the snow had firmed up since yesterday. It wasn’t nice powder, but at least we weren’t sinking in and sticking to wet snow. A mile later, we came to Meco Lake, and of course decided to ski the very short lake. It was maybe 10 minutes of skiing.
The last few days had clearly been warm, as many of the small streams had opened up. They weren’t hard to cross, but they required a little more thought and planning to stay dry.
We came to the Godfrey Rd trail junction at 12:30pm, and enjoyed a sitting lunch. Apparently the old NPT (before 2014) used to start/end here instead of Northville. I was glad to have more trail remaining, I know I’ll miss it when it’s over.
We packed up after lunch, and continued south. The trail was harder to follow after this, and with more overgrowth. Jim’s spruce-whacking face:
A mile after the trail junction, we came to a tricky stream crossing. The bridge was of the narrow-log variety, and it was perched 6ft above the creek….no thanks. So we crossed the semi-frozen steam. The snow bridge deteriorated a little bit with each skiier, and I was last to cross. My left ski went into the stream, and though it was shallow, it was a very difficult position to extract myself from.
With some pole-grabbing assistance, I made it onto solid ground, and then side-stepped up the steep bank. We continued on, and I was thankful the rest of the afternoon was less exciting! It was party sunny all morning, and by afternoon the remaining clouds departed and it was very sunny. We sure do make nice ski tracks.
Usually by mid-afternoon we start getting tired and hit an energy lull. Jim is still enjoying his new 147cm BD skis!
The crossing of Abner Brook had another tricky log crossing. We found a way across on the semi-frozen stream without incident. Even though it was only 3pm, we decided to stop for the day here, as the next viable campsite was 2 miles away.
Our kitchen architect is utilizing the design-build approach, while giving our eating quarters some finishing touches.
As the sun went down, it became much colder. I figured it might snow, and moved my pack (right) under the tarp.
I had found a nice little water extraction spot, and I took a break tonight from water duties. Mark and Jim did the bucket filling and hauling from Abner Brook.
The view from inside the kitchen, sitting under the tarp. It became very windy, so it was nice being out of the wind.
We made our dehydrated dinners and some hot drinks (cocoa, cider, jello), and then quickly put everything away. It was so windy! I was so happy to be in the tent, it was amazingly warm with 3 people in there. I stayed awake for Mark’s entire reading of the book chapter, and then browsed my maps for a few minutes….we are so close to the end!